Jun 18 Supreme Court Gene Patent Ruling

David C. Berry,
professor at Thomas M. Cooley Law School and director of the school’s
Graduate
Program in Intellectual Property Law, noted that the recent Supreme Court
decision regarding Myriad answers some questions about patentability of
genetic inventions, but leaves others unanswered.

“The
Myriad decision again shows the Supreme Court’s efforts to clarify the
Patent Act, which has been criticized recently by many commentators as
allowing too many patents and conferring
too many rights to patent holders. Although the Patent Office has been
granting patents on isolated human genes for many years, the Court ruled
that those inventions are nothing more than naturally occurring
substances, and should be available for all researchers
to use without restriction. Although patents may be available on many
related technologies, such as cDNAs, specific methods of exploiting the
DNA, and genetic testing equipment, the Myriad decision will make it
harder for companies conducting research in human
genetics to protect their discoveries from competitors. The Federal
Circuit will now have to apply the broad principles identified in the
Myriad decision to other technologies.”